URP Research Area

Transportation Planning Transportation Planning is concerned with improving coordination between land use and transportation system planning; providing cooperative interaction between planning, design, and operation of transportation services; maintaining a balance between transportation-related energy use, clean air and water, and encouraging alternative modes of transportation that will enhance efficiency while providing high levels of mobility and safety.

Associated Teachers
GIS and Remote Sensing

Geographic information system: Geographic Information System (GIS) as an integrated, spatial, data-handling programmes which will collect, store, and retrieve spatial data from the real world. GIS technology is used to analyze the urban growth and its direction of expansion, and to find suitable sites for further urban development.

Remote sensing: This concentration will teach students to apply remote sensing techniques to classify types of land use over large areas in a practical, economical and repetitive fashion, over large areas. Remote sensors are integrated into the GIS system and this together helps in understanding the maps, weather conditions, population density and many things related to earthly conditions.


Regional Planning Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land-use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. Regional planning is related to urban planning as it relates land use practices on a broader  scale. It also includes formulating laws that will guide the efficient planning and management of such said regions.

Disaster Management and Climate Change This concentration teaches about the socio-economic impacts from natural hazards and climate change. This field is also concerned with disaster management tactics and techniques, climate change adaptation and resilience.

Landuse Planning Land use planning concentrate on regulating land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus preventing land use conflicts. Land use planning ensures creating and improving plans that stimulate new growth in areas and revitalize or repurpose older communities. Land use planning considers economic, social and environmental factors when creating development plans and recommending locations for new businesses, schools and other buildings. Land use planning teaches how to maintain residents' quality of life while accommodating economic growth.

Environmental Policy and Planning Environmental Policy and Planning seeks to improve the way society conserves and manages natural resources and pursues sustainable development, particularly (though not exclusively) in urban and metropolitan settings around the world. Some specific areas of research and teaching include the adoption and diffusion of technologies that aim to mitigate or remediate environmental problems, particularly renewable energy, energy-efficiency, and water-conservation technologies; the efficacy of efforts to prevent and reduce air and  water pollution and manage the disposal of toxic and hazardous wastes; the prospects for international, national, state-level, and local strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change; the resolution of conflicts surrounding facility siting and the allocation of trans boundary water resources; the pursuit of environmental justice; and the development of more flexible forms of urban infrastructure.

Urban Design Urban design teaches the process of arrangement and design of buildings, public spaces, transport systems, services, and amenities in the context of a metropolis. It examines ways that cities have been designed, planned, and developed in the past, while proposing new visions for the future. It teaches about making connections between people and places, movement and urban form, nature and the built fabric. Urban design draws together the many strands of place-making, environmental stewardship, social equity and economic viability into the creation of places with distinct beauty and identity. Urban design also concentrate on heritage management and landscape design.

Housing and Community Development The specialization in housing and community development provides students with an understanding of theory and practice in urban development, particularly physical development in neighborhoods. It requires students to address both housing and its community context.

Associated Teachers